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CARNEGIE FREE LIBRARY 



& Valentine, Los Ang-eles. photo 



Tucson, Arizona's Metropolis 



By Allan B. Jaynes 



TUCSON has a history rich in 
anecdotes of the adventures of 
the Spanish conquerors and of 
the American invaders who came to the 
southwest after the Gadsden purchase. 
As early as 1649 the missionaries from 
Sonora penetrated southern Arizona 
as far north as the Gila river and estab- 
lished missions at Tubac and at San 
Xavier. In the valley nine miles north 
of the San Xavier Mission, the Span- 
iards built a post to protect their set- 
tlements from Apache invasions, and the 
small village which grew up around the 
soldiers' barracks was called Tucson, a 
name which the Indians applied to the 
watering place in the valley near the 
town. 



On the mountain which rose up from 
the Santa Cruz valley just west of Tuc- 
son, the Spanish soldiers threw up 
breastworks and built a lookout from 
which they could survey the country far 
to the north, for it was from this direc- 
tion that the Apaches swooped down on 
their raids. Tubac was made the head- 
quarters for the Spanish soldiers in 
those days, and Tucson was merely an 
outpost peopled by the most venture- 
some. And so it remained for almost 
two hundred years. 

In 1853 came the Gadsden purchase, 
which added the territory in which Tuc- 
son is located to the United States. 
This was followed by an American inva- 
sion, and Tucson became a station for 



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SOME HOMES OF TUCSON SHOWING TM'ES OF I'RESENT ARCHITECTURE 



the overland mail and the largest and 
most important point in Arizona, a dis- 
tinction which it has held down to this 
day. For many years after the Ameri- 
can occupation Tucson was but a mili- 
tary and trading post and a mail station. 
On many occasions the savage Apaches 
territied the inhabitants, and the troops 
stationed at Tucson and old Fort Lowell, 
which was near the town and is now 
dismantled, were engaged in putting 
down the Indians. 

Although a .lively frontier town in 
those days Tucson was not destined to 
become an important point until the 
Southern Pacific Eailroad arrived in 
the yea,r 1884. This event quite natu- 
rally revolutionized the frontier post; 
new industries were established, the rich 
mining country around Tucson was 
opened up, and the soldiers, having paci- 
fied the Indians, marched away. But for 
all of this the old Mexican, pueblo still 
retained its relics of the past, its narrow 
streets lined with adol^es remained 



unchanged and the large Mexican popu- 
lation clung to the old customs. It has 
only been in the past few years that 
Tucson has emerged from a somewhat 
obscure past to find herself a modern city 
in every sense of the word, a great busi- 
ness center and the metropolis of a 
rapidly growing territory, rich in nat- 
ural resources. 

While the history of the early days in 
Tucson is a remarkable one, the story of 
her recent transformation from a quaint 
old Mexican pueblo to a modern Ameri- 
can city is not less marvelous. • In the 
past five years the city has been practi- 
cally rebuilt, but the many new buildings 
have not taken from Tucson her foreign 
fiavor, as her builders have preserved in 
these new structures the most pictur- 
esque features of the Mexican architect- 
ure and many of her new buildings are 
of Aztec design. The Santa Rita Hotel, 
a handsome new structure, is built after 
this fashion, as are also many residences 
and a new club-house. These remnants 




SAN XAVIER MISSION 
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PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS OF TUCSON 




THREE OF TUCSON S CHURCHES 



of the past, thus preserved, make Tuc- 
son as attractive in that respect toda}' 
as when the Spanish soldiers paraded 
her streets in their glittering uniforms. 
The modem Tucson is a growing city 
of fourteen thousand inhabitants. Her 
rapid growth in the past few years can 
be attributed to her advantageous loca- 
tion as a distributing point for southern 
Arizona and Sonora, to the rich mining 
and grazing country which surrounds 
the city, and to the matchless climate, 
which attracts hundreds of health-seek- 
ers in the winter months. The Mexican 
population, which was formerly in the 
majorit}', now comprises less than one 
third of the total population and the 
Mexican merchants are among the most 
successful and enterprising citizens of 
Tucson. The principal business street 
of the city always presents a metropoli- 
tan appearance. All of Tucson's streets 
are level, well graded and well lighted 
at night. The business blocks and stores 
equal those found in a city twice the 



size, and new store and office buildings 
are constantly being erected to meet the 
ever increasing demand. 

The schoolhouses, churches and other 
public institutions of Tucson are among 
her most remarkable features. A few 
year ago three new school buildings of 
a very artistic design were constructed, 
and it was supposed at that time that 
they would meet the needs of the city 
for a number of years to come, but they 
are already well filled and another new 
school building is under construction. 
The Catholic Sisters maintain the St. 
Joseph's Academy and parochial schools 
at Tucson. All of the leading denomina- 
tions — Congregational, Episcopal, Meth- 
odist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Eoman 
Catholic — are represented by churches. 
The Pima county court-house, with the 
public park adjoining it, is the most 
inviting spot in the center of the city. 
The Carnegie free library, erected two 
years ago at a cost of $25,000, is sur- 
rounded by well-kept grounds and faces. 




— Tucson has thrown off her out-grozvn shell and emerged from a somciuhat obscure past to find 

a rapidly grozving territory. 



AYashington Park, the military plaza of 
the old Mexican town, and the largest 
public park in the cit}^ The Elks, Odd 
Fellows and United Workmen all own 
handsome buildings, and the residence 
of the Owls is the most unique structure 
in Tucson. 

Tucson is well able to care for the 
winter visitors that come from all over 
the country to enjoy her matchless 
climate. There are twelve hotels in the 
city, and one of these, the Santa Kita, 
which has just been completed, is decid- 
edly the most novel of tourist hotels 
in the southwest. The Santa Eita, 
named for the high range of mountains 
to the south, is by far the most imposing 
structure in the old pueblo of Tucson. 
It is built after the Aztec fashion, 
and its white walls loom up above 
all of the other buildings. From its 
spacious roof gardens one can survey 
the mesa for miles over its vast sweep 
to the mountains, for Tucson lies in a 
natural amphitheatre, surrounded on 
all sides by ranges. On one side the 
mountains come within a few miles 
of Tucson, while in another direction 
the Santa Cruz river can be seen wind- 
ing for a great distance to the moun- 
tains at its source. This scene from the 
roof garden of the Santa Rita is said to 



rival the view of the Alps from Milan's 
cathedral. A perfect paradise, too, 
are the patios and palm gardens of this 
new hotel, the equipment of which is 
in keeping with the charm of the coun- 
try which surrounds it. The climate, 
unexcelled anywhere, makes Tucson the 
most alluring of winter resorts. 

The University of Arizona, the head 
of the territorial system of education, 
is located at Tucson. The campus of 
this institution is on high, open ground 
northeast of the city and overlooking the 
country around. There are three hun- 
dred students always in attendance at 
the university, and the faculty is com- 
posed of twenty professors from lead- 
ing educational institutions east and 
west, and their assistants. In addi- 
tion to a half dozen older buildings, a 
new gymnasium donated by a mining 
company has just been completed, and 
a new library building is being erected 
at a cost of $25,000. The Arizona 
experiment station, a manual training 
school, and a mill for the reduction of 
ores are connected Avith the university. 
The mining school ranks very high, and 
the credits of the University of Arizona 
are accepted by the leading institutions 
of learning. For the size and age of 
the university, the equipment is very 



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herself a modern city in every sense of the word, a great bnsiiicss center and the inetropoUs of 
rich in natural resources. 



complete aiul additions are constantly 
being- made. Many persons prominent 
in the literary world spend the winters 
in Tucson, and they have shown a great 
deal of interest in the university and 
have done much to raise its standard to 
the present high level. 

The Desert botanical laboratory of the 
Carnegie institution has just been estab- 
lished in the mountains west of Tuc- 
son for the purpose of experimenting 
with the desert flora. The laboratory 
building is constructed of the black vol- 
canic rocks used by the Spanish soldiers 
in erecting their breastworks and is built 
on the shelf of the mountain used by 
them as a lookout. A thousand acres 
of hill and plain surrounding the labor- 
atory are being used for experimental 
purposes, and scientists expect that the 
discoveries of the laboratory will add 
greatly to the knowledge which they 
already have of the desert flora. The 
Desert laboratory was the first piece of 
real estate to be acquired by the Car- 
negie institution, and one of its first 
branches. The first report of the labor- 
atory, which has just been issued, is 
attracting the attention of scientists 
abroad as well as in this country. 

Outside of the university and the 
Desert laboratory, there are a number 



of other interesting places in and 
around Tucson to which the visitor 
can make excursions, chief among which 
is the San Xavier Mission, nine miles 
south of Tucson in the Santa Cruz val- 
ley. The old mission was established 
by Jesuit priests in 1590, and the old 
church is a very interesting structure, 
with its decorations of the seventeenth 
century, its wall paintings, its fantastic 
facade and its half-ruined towers. Fort 
Lowell, which in former days was com- 
manded by now famous generals, has 
been abandoned, but is nevertheless a 
delightful place for picnicking. Fort 
Lowell is seven miles from Tucson, and 
eight miles further on a sparkling brook 
comes down through Sabino canyon and 
out of the Catalina mountains. A scenic 
trail leads up this canyon through 
forests of pine and spruce to the high- 
est point, 10,110 feet, from which Tuc- 
son can be seen, twenty miles distant, 
a mere dot on the vast expanse of 
tableland. 

A country club has just been estab- 
lished, and a handsome club-house will 
be erected on a pretty spot not far from 
the city. An automobile stage line 
carries passengers to a resort in the Cata- 
lina mountains forty miles north of 
Tucson. The ranches around Tucson 




-all of Tucson's streets arc level,..* * * zvell graded 



Putnam & Valentine, Los Angeles, plioto 




THE ELKS CLUB HOUSE 




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SANTA RITA HOTEL 



and the cowljoys who ride the range also 
attract the tourist, while the Indians on 
the reservation south of the city and 
the caballeros of the Mexican quarter 
add to the attractions which the city 
has for the visitor. 

The industries of Tucson are many 
and varied. There are two national 
banks in the city, whose deposits 
exceed over a million and a half of 
dollars; a trust company was organized 



some months ago, and has met with suc- 
cess; three building and loan associa- 
tions have been established for several 
years; the city is equipped with a com- 
plete telephone system, while light is 
supplied by gas and electric light plants ; 
two daily papers, morning and evening, 
are published in Tucson ; two iiour mills 
grind the wheat raised by the Mari- 
copa and Pima Indians; two ice plants 
supply the needs of the citizens; the 




ONE OF THE NEW SCHOOLS 




ST. MARY S SANATORIUM 



Southern Pacific maintains large sliops 
at ^J'ncson, and a foundry and machine 
sliop employs many men. At Tucson's 
modern theatre the leading attractions 
of th" American stage stop en route to 
California. 

Tucson is located on the main line 
of the Southern Pacific railroad three 
hundred miles west of El Paso and five 
hundred miles east of Los Angeles. A 
branch of the Southern Pacific runs to 
Nogales on the international line and 
thence to Hermosillo and Guaymas on 
the Gulf of California, making Tucson 
a gateway to the rich state of Sonora, 
whose possibilities in a mining way are 
just beginning to be realized. Tucson 
has a large trade at smaller places along 
the line of the Southern Pacific, and 
southeastern Arizona is reached by the 
El Paso and Southwestern, connecting 
with the Southern Pacific at Benson. 
Towns not on the railroad, ranches and 
mining camps are reached by stage lines 



running out of Tucson to places a 
hundred miles distant. 

The grazing lands of Pima county 
make ranching very profitable. Many 
forage grasses grow to maturity in the 
rainy season, and the snow on the 
mountains, melting with the advent of 
spring, waters the ranges at that time 
of the year. The government has estab- 
lished the Santa Eita forest reserve 
south of Tucson for the sole purpose of 
experimenting with the desert grasses 
with a view of obtaining practical 
results. In the springtime the ranges are 
covered with poppies and other beauti- 
ful wild flowers. The agricultural pos- 
sibilities of the Santa Cruz valley are 
wonderful, for where water can be 
carried out over the land two crops a 
year can be raised and as many as 
five and six crops of alfalfa, the staple 
product of all Arizona farms and 
ranches. If the attempts to develop 
artesian water in the Santa Cruz valley 




CONSOLIDATED NATIONAL BANK 



ARIZONA NATIONAL BANK 



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BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 




PTMA COUNTY COURT-HOUSE, TUCSON 



be successful, it has in store a wonderful 
future as a farming section. 

Among her own citizens, Tucson's 
jjrosperity and commercial advantages 
are considered her greatest attraction, 
but abroad she is best known for her 
climate. The dry air and altitude of 
Tucson make it a natural sanitarium for 
those afflicted with throat, lung and 
many other troubles, so that many find 
rest and cure every winter under her 
Italian sky. The Catholic Sisters main- 
tain a complete hospital and sanitarium 
for tuberculosis patients, just west of 
the city, where those who are afflicted 
with that disease and seek Tucson for 
the beneficial effects of the climate, can 
receive the best of care. 

The residents of Tucson are ever 
loyal to their city. There is something 
about the air, the sky and the mountains 
which clings to them when they go 
elsewhere, and sooner or later thev 



wander back. Those who spend the 
winter in Tucson go away to tell of their 
delightful times in the old pueblo, of the 
prosperity of her citizens, and of her 
many commercial advantages. Others 
hearing, perhaps for the first time, of 
the enterprise of this southwestern city 
are attracted to Tucson, many of them 
locating and establishing new business 
enterprises. In this way Tucson has 
sprung from an old Mexican pueblo and 
military post to the modern city which 
she is today in a comparatively short 
time. A few of the pioneers remain to 
tell of the wars with the Apaches and 
of the hardships of the early days on 
the frontier, but to those who have come 
to Tucson in recent years this seems 
somewhere in the far distant past. For 
Tucson has cast aside her outgrown 
shell and stands today a monument to 
the enterprise of her citizens and to 
the resources of the surrounding section. 




HANDIWORK OF INDIANS ON THE RESERVATION NEAR TUCSON 



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 

CONCERNING TUCSON AND VICINITY 

ADDRESS 

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

TUCSON, ARIZONA 



